Deep fat frying is what makes hush puppies IMO. Better to have them as a rare treat than forgo the frying. Be sure to add some bacon fat to the fry oil. Here's my mother's recipe,

2 c white cornmeal

2 c flour

3 T baking powder

2 tsp salt (I'd use less)

1 tsp pepper

1 med. onion, fine chopped

3 c. milk (scant)

Sift dry ingredients together, add onion. Add milk gradually until proper consistency to drop by 1.2 teaspoonfuls in deep fat. Fry until lightly browned. Makes 6 to 7 dozen

All the above but I also add garlic powder and some cayenne. I wouldn't bother not deep frying them, though.

Hush puppies are the normal "bread" here in the South. Some have a bit of powdered onion, some add hot pepper flakes (no seeds), all are made with fine stone ground cornmeal, including an egg and buttermilk, (plus baking powder and soda, salt) and all are deep fat fried. I prefer them fried quickly in peanut oil in a small deep saucepan with a thermometer registering 350F.

You might try adding minced red pepper, scallion and celery to beef up the flavor, maybe some old bay seasoning.

Sort of a deviled crab cake without the crab and with cornmeal.

In Georgia, my Aunt always made hush puppies with beer for the liquid in the batter along with some onion. I prefer a small amount of minced jalapeno in mine.

I'm wondering if the oil in your restaurant picked up flavor from the fish/seafood that was being fried? Or at least some of the spices?

In Georgia, my Aunt always made hush puppies with beer for the liquid in the batter along with some onion

Yeah, that's how I was taught, on the theory that this was a fishing/hunting trip specialty and they'd have beer but not milk.

But I have to agree with everyone else that a hush puppy that isn't fried is merely a quenelle.

The story I was told was hush puppys were made from what you used to bread and fry fish, or chicken. When you were done frying the fish, you mixed the egg and milk dip, with the flour and the corn meal from the final dip and fried it up in the hot fat.........and tossed it to the dogs!

Yes, exactly, lindac. But I was told that that was why beer instead, since milk wouldn't have been worth anything after a day out in the southern wilds fishin' or huntin', so they used beer for both the batter and the hush puppies.

But not chicken--nobody takes the dogs out to hunt chicken. :)

Islay, that's why the shoes are called that, since "dogs" was a slang word for feet. Hush Puppies were supposed to be so comfortable your "dogs" shut up and stopped "barking" at you, just as real hush puppies were supposed to be so toothsome the dogs "bolted them and hushed in their great content," as Marjorie Rawlings put it.

Now I heard it was the slaves in their cabins who originated hush puppies....or maybe I am thinking of hoe cake?

I also generally make them when I am deep frying fish in cornmeal, and I use the leftover breading ingredients (cornmeal + flour + egg) to make the hush puppies. I do add minced jalapeño or cayenne and some baking powder, but I guess I should try using beer instead of water, and then I would not need baking powder. I often add minced onion and minced celery as well, plus Cajun seasoning, which contains dried herbs (basil, oregano, thyme) plus garlic & onion powder, and cayenne and salt.

If you use stone ground cornmeal, they will not be very good when cold, as the cornmeal will become hard.

nobody takes the dogs out to hunt chicken

Thank-you! I needed that. :D

Writers block that's Great!

well, i finally produced an end product that i liked... it had flavor, texture and even though baked...a bit of crunch to it. Yes, it was very tasty. it was light years away from the traditional hush puppy approach. I don't think i am going to post the recipe because most everybody will laugh and then turn their nose up without trying to use the recipe. I may not even make it again either. I used a half cup of olive oil in the recipe. How many recipes do you find like that.

in any case it was sort of fun screwing around with this odd ball approach but i more than likely will revert to the traditional recipes as posted earlier in this thread. thanks for the responses...

Half a cup of oil to how much corn? Considering you baked them, they'd need a goodly amount of fat and general moisture to hold together. Moisture also goes with crunch.

Why wouldn't you make them again if you liked them? Or was it that once the chase is over the interest is gone?

I'd be interested in baked hush puppies if you'd care to share after all.

I'm curious about sugar. We don't have hush puppies here, so I only have them when I visit the south. Last time I had them was in Myrtle Beach and the restaurant was famous for their hush puppies... they were lightly sweetened.

i bounced around adding one tbl of sugar to sometimes two tbls of sugar. I don't think you really need it or perhaps add just a little. Your choice though.

All this talk of hush puppies got me craving them, so I headed to the freezer, pulled out some tilapia and the bag of frozen HP's. I buy them from a store in Kenosha WI and load up when we go there. The brand is America's Catch and they are out of MS, also have a catfish farm. They are wonderful and turn out great when baked.

http://catfish.com/products/hushpuppies